Preface and Acknowledgments
The essays in this volume are derived from the Center for Economic and Policy Education=s September 1997 Civitas Forum on Principles for Public Life. This one-day conference focused on various legal and moral issues.
The editors wish to extend their gratitude to Saint Vincent College and some key personnel who made this conference possible. Christine Dumm, the Center=s former program coordinator, and the Center=s student staff. We also thank, Pilar Herr, Nicholas Racculia, and Sandra Quinlivan for their time in helping us with this book.
We also appreciate the support of the administration: Rt. Rev. Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., the archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey and chancellor of Saint Vincent College and Saint Vincent Seminary; Rev. Martin R. Bartel, O.S.B., president of Saint Vincent College; Br. Norman W. Hipps, O.S.B, provost; and Dr. Brent D. Cejda, academic dean. We also wish to thank Don Orlando, Saint Vincent College=s director of public relations.
Finally we offer strongest appreciation to the foundations that supported this conference and this publication: the Curran Foundation, the Massey Charitable Trust, the Philip M. McKenna Foundation, the PNC Bank Charitable Trust Committee, and the Alex C. Walker Educational and Charitable Foundation.
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Preface and Acknowledgments
1. The Free Market and the Free Society 1
William H. Lash, III
2. Law and Morality 13
Gerard V. Bradley
3. Citizenship and Community: Legacy and Challenge 21
Robert A. Destro
4. Judicial Activism and Self-Government 45
R. Alexander Acosta
About the Contributors 63
About the Contributors
Mr. Alex Acosta directs the Ethics and Public Policy Center=s Project on the Judiciary. The Project, whose Board members include Mr. Bill Bennett, Mr. Bill Kristol, Mr. Ed Meese, Mr. Ronald Rotunda, and Mr. Richard Thornberg, was founded by Mr. Acosta earlier this year to respond to the increasing tendency of federal judges to make decisions based on their personal policy preferences rather than on what the law requires. The Project believes that such judicial activism is wrong. It is the province of Congress and the States, not the judiciary, to enact policy and legislate law.
Mr. Acosta graduated from Harvard College and the Harvard Law School and clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Prior to joining the Project, Mr. Acosta practiced appellate litigation under Mr. Ken Starr at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis in Washington D.C. Mr. Acosta has addressed gatherings of the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation and the National Conference of State Legislators on the issue of judicial activism.
Mr. Gerard V. Bradley is a Professor of Law at the Notre Dame Law School. He is also President of Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Co-Editor of American Journal of Jurisprudence, Vice President of American Public Philosophy Institute, Vice Chairman of the Religious Liberties Practice Group, Federalist Society, and he is on the Board of Advisors for Society of Catholic Social Scientists and Campaign for the American Family. In addition, he is a regular columnist for Catholic Dossier: Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly. He previously served as Researcher and writer for the Cornell Institute on Organized Crime, as Assistant District Attorney in the Trial Division, New York County District Attorney=s Office and as Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law.
Mr. Bradley is a Summa Cum Laude graduate from Cornell Law School. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Catholicism, Liberalism and Communitarianism, co-edited with K. Grasso and R. Hunt and a forthcoming article, ANo Intentional Killing Whatsoever: The Case of Capital Punishment,@ in R. George ed., Essays in Honor of Germain Grisez.
Mr. Robert A. Destro is Professor of Law at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America. He formally served as Commissioner for the United States Commission on Civil Rights and was General Counsel for Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. He was also Associate Editor of California Law Review.
Mr. Destro=s articles have appeared in Issues in Law & Medicine, The Journal of Law and Religion, Policy Review, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and The Family Today and Tomorrow. He is a graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. In addition, Mr. Destro has lectured to a wide range of audiences, including the White House, Georgetown University Law School, and the National Committee for Adoption.
Mr. William Henry Lash, III is an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University. He is also a Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law and serves as Coordinator of the International Business Track at the Law School. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of a publicly traded corporation and is also a director of several not-for profit corporations. Previously, he served as an expert witness for litigants and judges in state and federal courts. From June 1996 to July 1997, he was the Associate Dean of the George Mason University School of Law and the Director of the Law and Economics Center where he established new academic programs for judges, law professors and economists and coordinated a series of institutes, conferences and research programs on law and economics. He previously served as Counsel to the Honorable Susan W. Liebeler, Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission where he represented the Chairman before foreign and domestic government officials, representatives of foreign and domestic industries, and members of the bar and the media.
Mr. Lash is a graduate from Yale University and Harvard Law School. His numerous publications have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Journal of Commerce, Journal of Environmental Law and Practice, Society, and The National Law Journal. He has also given presentations before the Center for the Study of American Business, the National Foreign Trade Council and has been a guest on various radio and television programs on CNN, C-SPAN, and NET-Political Talk Network.